- Ukraine signs landmark agreement with E.U.
The Washington Post 2014.06.27
Ukraine signed a landmark trade and economic pact with the European Union on June 27. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said it is the "most historic day" for Ukraine since it gained independence. ( / European Union)
KIEV, Ukraine — Shrugging off Russian threats and a burgeoning civil war, Ukraine signed a landmark trade deal Friday binding it to the European Union, a monumental step that came in defiance of months of Kremlin efforts to prevent the country from turning westward.
The move prompted a top Russian diplomat to warn immediately of “serious consequences” for Ukraine. A cease-fire that has brought some measure of calm to the country’s roiling east was extended until Monday, and E.U. leaders hinted that they would slap more sanctions on Russia if it does not take steps to achieve peace by that deadline.
The document signed Friday was the same one that was rejected in November by Ukraine’s then-president, Viktor Yanukovych. That decision sparked months of protests by pro-Western Ukrainians, a crackdown by Yanukovych and his eventual ouster in February, generating the highest tensions between the West and Russia since the Cold War.
More than 100 protesters died in Kiev under the blue and yellow banner of the European Union when they took to the streets to demand that Yanukovych reconsider his last-minute decision — made under heavy Russian pressure — to reject the agreement. Hundreds more Ukrainians and dozens of Russians have died in violence in eastern Ukraine since April, when pro-Russian separatists seized government buildings and territory in an effort to align themselves with Russia rather than the European Union.
More than 160,000 Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes since the start of the conflict, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.
- Redrawn Lines Seen as No Cure in Iraq Conflict
The New York Times JUNE 26, 2014
Clerics in support of the Mahdi Army marched last week in a show of force against ISIS in Najaf, Iraq. Shiites are taking up arms across the country and calling on civilians to join the fight. CreditLynsey Addario for The New York Times
ISTANBUL — Over the past two weeks, the specter that has haunted Iraq since its founding 93 years ago appears to have become a reality: the de facto partition of the country into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish cantons.
With jihadists continuing to entrench their positions across the north and west, and the national army seemingly incapable of mounting a challenge, Americans and even some Iraqis have begun to ask how much blood and treasure it is worth to patch the country back together.
It is a question that echoes not only in Syria — also effectively divided into mutually hostile statelets — but also across the entire Middle East, where centrifugal forces unleashed by the Arab uprisings of 2011 continue to erode political structures and borders that have prevailed since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire a century ago.
Yet Iraq and Syria’s potential fragmentation along sectarian or ethnic lines is not likely to offer any solution to the region’s dysfunction, analysts say, and may well generate new conflicts driven by ideology, oil, and other resources.
How Syria and Iraq’s Borders Evolved
PUBLISHED JUNE 26
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is trying to establish its own Sunni state across borders that have their origins in the Ottoman Empire and post World War I diplomacy.
Ottoman Empire
Before WWI, the Middle East was divided into several administrative provinces under the Ottoman Empire. Modern Iraq is roughly made up of the Ottoman provinces of Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra.
“At least a third of the country is beyond Baghdad’s control, not counting Kurdistan,” said Zaid al Ali, an Iraqi analyst and the author of “The Struggle for Iraq’s Future.” “But any effort to make that official would likely lead to an even greater disaster — not least because of the many mixed areas of the country, including Baghdad, where blood baths would surely ensue as different groups tried to establish facts on the ground.”
The Obama administration has urged Iraqi politicians of different sects to come together, repeating admonitions that were so often heard in the years after the 2003 invasion. But the Pentagon — reluctant to commit more manpower to a complex and profoundly uncertain conflict — has quietly hinted it could live with Iraq’s current division, despite the dangers posed by a potential new terrorist sanctuary in the deserts linking Syria and Iraq.
The context this time is different from a decade ago: Sectarian hatred has begun to alter the region’s political DNA in ways that make the old borders more vulnerable. Many ordinary Sunnis describe the seizing of Mosul and other cities as a popular revolution against a Shiite-led government, not a terrorist onslaught. With Iran, their historic enemy, now lining up drones and other military supplies to help the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki retake the north — and protect the south — many Sunnis may become further alienated from the state.
- China Official Cancels Appearances After Protests in Taiwan
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Said Changes Made in Due to a Spate of 'Conflicts' in Recent Days
The Wall Street Journal June 28, 2014
Security personnel protect Zhang Zhijun (center, in white shirt), after protesters attempted to pour white paint on him, in Kaohsiung,Taiwan. Reuters
China's top cross-strait negotiator, in Taiwan on a landmark visit, canceled three public appearances at the last minute Saturday after protests against his bridge-building trip turned violent.
Zhang Zhijun, head of Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office, is the first ministerial-level Chinese official to set foot on Taiwanese soil after both sides split 65 years ago. Mr. Zhang's office said his four-day trip, which started on Wednesday, is to "listen to the voice of the Taiwanese people at the grass root level" as both sides strive for further reconciliation.
In a text message to reporters on Saturday morning, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Office, responsible for coordinating the trip with its Chinese counterpart, said the changes were made in response to a spate of "conflicts" in recent days.
On Friday evening, during his visit to the southern city of Kaohsiung, members of the pro-democracy Black Island Nation Youth Front threw white paint and bundles of paper ghost money at Mr. Zhang's vehicle as he was getting out of the car. Mr. Zhang wasn't hurt but several security agents were splashed with paint.
Earlier that morning, also in Kaohsiung, a young male protester sustained a laceration to his forehead during a violent quarrel with a group of China supporters in front of the hotel where Mr. Zhang was staying. The Chinese envoy was also almost hit by a water bottle thrown by a Taiwan independence activist as he arrived at the city's high speed railway station.
During his visit to New Taipei City in northern Taiwan, hundreds of placard-waving protesters shouting, "Taiwan, China, one country each side," followed Mr. Zhang to almost every place he visited. In another heated scuffle, a group of students who had formed a human blockade by chaining themselves together were forcefully removed by the police so Mr. Zhang's motorcade could pass through.
Thousands of police officers and security agents were mobilized to accompany Mr. Zhang on his tour of the island. At hotels where he stayed, multiple layers of barbed-wired fences pleated with razorblades were set up to fend off protesters. Police officers carrying long wooden sticks and metal shields patrolled the premises around the clock. Check points were set up to weed out demonstrators.
Such a high level of security sparked indignant fury among protesters, who have accused the government of muting people's right to assemble and freedom of speech.
Taiwan separated from mainland China in 1949 amid a civil strife which has never formally ended. Taiwan has since become a multiparty democracy while China has remained under communist rules. In recent years, both sides agreed to forge better trade ties by shelving their historical animosity. However, Beijing still claims Taiwan, and has said it would reclaim it by force if necessary.
Analysts say although the scale of protest this time was smaller compared with those 2008 when another Chinese semiofficial visited Taiwan, Beijing must not interpret the lower numbers as a sign of Taiwan's gradual acceptance of unification.
"It is important to note Taiwan people's growing distrust in the Chinese Communist Party is not only from what Beijing is doing to Taiwan such as blocking Taiwan's participation in international organizations, but also what Beijing is doing in Hong Kong and in the region," said Mingchuan University professor Chen Chao-chien, referring to China's seemingly provocative moves in both South and East China Seas amid rising tension among the various territorial claimants.
The professor said Mr. Zhang's trip, which including serving lunch at a local senior center and a forum with university students, is in line with China's "two-faced approach"—to be soft and hard on Taiwan at the same time.
However, others say the fact that even the opposition Democratic Progressive Party showed no objection to Mr. Zhang's visit means China's plan to lure back Taiwan through economic sweeteners is slowly taking effect, said Chang Kuo-cheng, a Taipei Medical University professor and a member of the Taiwan Thinktank.
But one thing that most political observers agree on is that Beijing is growing more anxious to start the political dialogue phase of the relationship after six years of focusing only on trade matters.
"We urged the Taiwan public to be respect [to Mr. Zhang] but, Taiwan is [a] democracy where everyone has a right to voice their opinion and we ask China to respect the choices made by the Taiwanese people," said Wang Yu-chi, the head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council at a news conference.
"On this trip, Mr. Zhang heard many different views. We believe this has been a fruitful trip for him," he said.
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